Chicago Public Schools lays off more than 2,000, including 1,000 teachers
Chicago Public Schools lays off more than 2,000, including 1,000 teachers
Chicago Public Schools plans to layoff more than 2,000 Chicago Teachers Union members on Friday. CTU released a statement saying CPS plans to lay off nearly 2,100 total employees, including “veteran teachers, teacher assistants, clerks, technology coordinators, instructional aides, lunchroom workers and security guards.” “Once again, CPS has lied to parents, employees and the public...
Five reasons why the university pension plan won’t solve Illinois’ crisis
Five reasons why the university pension plan won’t solve Illinois’ crisis
The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or IGPA, a university-based research organization, recently developed a pension plan for Illinois. That plan was presented at a pension conference committee hearing earlier this month. But it’s not the type of reform Illinois’ needs. The IGPA plan fails to solve Illinois’ pension problem. Here are five reasons...
By Benjamin VanMetre
CPS layoffs should not surprise CTU
CPS layoffs should not surprise CTU
When Chicago Public Schools officials announced Thursday that the district will be laying off more than 2,000 employees – including 1,036 teachers – Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis issued a press release that made no mention of the role the CTU played in creating CPS’s $1 billion deficit. These important facts were missing: The CTU supported all of...
Taxing sophistry
Taxing sophistry
Earlier this month, the Chicago Tribune published an editorial sounding the alarm on “the next Illinois tax hike” – a progressive tax. While many in the state have come to recognize this upcoming tax fight, others, such as Jan Goldberg of Riverside, Ill., refuse to admit the truth. In a recent letter to the editor titled “Benefits of a...
By Benjamin VanMetre
Illinois unemployment above 10 percent in many metropolitan areas
Illinois unemployment above 10 percent in many metropolitan areas
Illinois has the nation’s second-worst unemployment rate. At 9.1 percent, it’s 1.5 percentage points higher than the national average of 7.6 percent. The lack of jobs continues to be a major burden to the people of Illinois, at both the state and local level. A year-over-year comparison of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, or MSAs, reveals an uneven...
By John Klingner
New ISAT standards reveal poor performance for Chicago Public Schools
New ISAT standards reveal poor performance for Chicago Public Schools
Illinois parents have been hoodwinked once again. Two years ago, the Chicago Tribune revealed that Illinois’ graduation rates weren’t as impressive as once reported. Now comes news that the state has been inflating district test scores for more than a decade. New Illinois Standard Achievement Test, or ISAT, scores released Tuesday by Chicago Public Schools officials, prove as much....
Illinois unemployment rate increases to 9.2 percent in June
Illinois unemployment rate increases to 9.2 percent in June
The Illinois Department of Employment Security announced today that the Illinois unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent in June, up from 9.1 percent in May. The U.S. unemployment rate held steady in June at 7.6 percent. The state added 9,000 private sector jobs in June. A year ago, the state’s unemployment rate was 9 percent, while the...
By Chris Andriesen
Chicago’s triple-notch credit downgrade
Chicago’s triple-notch credit downgrade
Pension costs are already unraveling the state’s finances. Now it’s the city of Chicago’s turn. The city’s out-of-control pension liabilities and “accelerating budget pressures associated with those liabilities” has resulted in another credit downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service. The national credit rating agency downgraded the city’s nearly $8 billion in general obligation bonds to A3...
Detroit goes bust
Detroit goes bust
It’s official: the city of Detroit is bankrupt. The Detroit News reported that the city filed a petition for bankruptcy protection this afternoon. The city is in a severe economic crisis and simply lacks the ability to raise sufficient taxes to pay its mounting bills. The city’s population fell more than 26% from 2000 to 2012 and...
By Paul Kersey
Pool of ObamaCare insurance providers continues shrinking in Illinois
Pool of ObamaCare insurance providers continues shrinking in Illinois
The nation’s largest insurance company, UnitedHealth Group, won’t be participating in Illinois’ health insurance exchange, Crain’s Chicago Business reported on Monday. UnitedHealth Group is the second-largest insurance company in Illinois’ nongroup market, the market in which the exchange will operate. Although state officials recently predicted 16 insurance companies would participate in the exchange, Crain’s reports that just...
By Jonathan Ingram
The league of attorneys general: Protecting the people from coffee mugs
The league of attorneys general: Protecting the people from coffee mugs
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has succeeded in taking down a serious threat to the fight against drug abuse – coffee mugs that look like prescription drug bottles. Madigan, along with attorneys general from more than 20 other states, sent a joint letter on May 22 to Urban Outfitters CEO and Chairman Richard A. Hayne regarding the...
By Hilary Gowins
Medicaid plagued with wasteful spending
Medicaid plagued with wasteful spending
The Medicaid welfare program has long been plagued with wasteful spending. The U.S. Government Accountability Office designates Medicaid as a high-risk program, largely because it is “particularly vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse and improper payments” and has inadequate oversight to prevent wasteful spending. Indeed, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, reports an improper...
By Jonathan Ingram
The food stamp decade: a million more Illinoisans dependent on SNAP
The food stamp decade: a million more Illinoisans dependent on SNAP
The real story behind Illinois’ decade of fiscal and governance crises is that the number of jobs is shrinking and food stamps are taking their place. Illinois’ massive pension debt, perennial overspending and high taxes are squeezing out the private sector and jobs, while Springfield’s dysfunction and the state’s collapsing credit rating are destroying investor...
By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner